Classic Myanmar
Programme Overview
Duration: 10 days
This itinerary is ideal for both first time visitors to Myanmar as well as those returning to see more of the country.
Highlights: Yangon, Heho/Inle Lake, Keng Tung, Sittwe, Mrauk U.
Arrive Yangon
Yangon is a city where contemporary and colonial Myanmar continue to coexist decades after British departure. It is a handsome city with a history of over two millennia, though it has been a capital for a mere 100 years. Rebuilt on a grid plan in the 1850s, the wide tree-lined boulevards are bordered by fine stone buildings. In the 1880s, Yangon was renowned as “the Queen of the East”. Today, Yangon bustles without urgency, high-rise buildings, traffic jams or department stores. Instead, small shops sell everything from antique lacquer-ware to silver-backed dressing table sets left over from colonial days.
Upon arrival, you are met and transferred to your hotel.
This afternoon start your sightseeing with a visit to Botataung Pagoda. This 131 foot stupa is unusual in that it is hollow and visitors are able to walk around inside. The original pagoda was destroyed in 1943 when it took a direct hit from an Allied bomb. During the cleanup a golden casket containing a hair and two other relics of Buddha were found.
Then continue on to visit the Sule Pagoda. If the Shwedagon is the soul of Yangon, then the Sule Pagoda is its heart. For centuries it has been the focus of much of the social and religious activity of the city. The British established the pagoda as the center of the urban area when they structured their grid-street system around it in the mid-19th century. The 157 foot pagoda remains the tallest building in the town area.
This evening around sunset visit the Shwedagon Pagoda. This architectural masterpiece is a golden fantasy of gilded stupas, serene Buddhas and mythical beasts said to be 2500 years old. According to legend, eight hairs of the last Buddha are enshrined within. On the outside the stupa is plated with 8,688 solid gold slabs and the tip of the stupa is set with 5,448 diamonds and 2,317 rubies, sapphires and topaz. A huge emerald sits in the middle to catch the first and last rays of the sun.
Overnight: The Strand Hotel
Yangon - Heho - Inle Lake
This morning you are transferred to the airport to board a flight to Heho. Upon arrival you are met and continue on to Inle Lake, surrounded by the Shan Hills.
The small charming Inle Lake View Resort is a small boutique hotel on the west shores of the spectacular Inle Lake.
Afternoon sightseeing will include a visit to the Phaung Daw U Pagoda which enshrines five golden Buddha images carried back to Myanmar by the 12th century King Alaungsithu upon his return from the Malay Peninsula. The images were deposited in a cave near the lake and were not rediscovered until centuries later. Since their relocation to this pagoda, however, they have been covered with so much gold leaf that they look more like balls of gold than Buddha figures.
Next you will see some Shan handicrafts.
Inle Lake on the Shan Plateau is an oasis where you will see the unique methods of farming and fishing which sustain the local residents.
Surrounding the lake is a wide belt of silt and tangled water hyacinths, which over time, creates a thick humus-like layer. The government sells plots of this floating land to be farmed by the villagers. Women tend the plots from boats and they grow cauliflower, tomatoes, cucumbers, cabbage, beans and eggplant.
Fishing is done by means of a conical trap containing a net that the fisherman thrusts to the bottom of the lake when he sees movement. All this is done while the fisherman perches precariously on the boat’s stern with one foot and twists his other leg around a long oar that he uses to propel the boat!
Visit the Jumping Cat Monastery. This wooden monastery, built on stilts over the lake, got its name from the monks who train their cats to jump through small hoops. Here you will see impressive Buddha images in Shan, Tibetan, Bagan and Inwa styles on a highly ornate wood and mosaic pedestal.
Overnight: Inle Princess Resort
Meal Plan: B,L,D
Inle Lake
Begin your day with a visit to the five day market. This rotating market changes locations every five days and is where the local hill tribes come to buy and sell their goods. Items range from handmade crafts to produce grown on the floating gardens. Take notice of the colourful outfits worn by the different hill tribes as they barter in this lively setting.
Continue to the Sikat-style silk weaving industry at Inn Paw Khone Village.
Next visit Nampan Village where you can witness traditional village life on the lake and observe a blacksmith’s and boat builder's workshop. You can also have a go at trying to make a cheroot, the famous Burmese cigar, in a cheroot factory.
In the afternoon, cruise through a densely forested river to visit Indein which is situated on a hill side in the southwestern corner of Inle Lake. Then take a wander through this typical lakeside village all the while observing the lives of the local people. Stroll through a bamboo grove and up a beautiful stairway lined with wooden columns to old Shwe Inn Dein, an impressive and thankfully unrestored collection of ancient Shan style stupas. At the top there is a stunning view out across the lake and beyond, to the hills in the east and the rolling countryside to the west.
Overnight: Inle Princess Resort
Meal Plan: B,L,D
Heho - Keng Tung
In the morning you are driven to the airport to fly to Keng Tung via Mandalay and Tachileik. Arrive in Keng Tung in the early afternoon when you will be met and transferred to Princess Hotel.
Keng Tung is a stunning place in the Eastern Shan State with many colourful ethnic tribes. Places of interest around Keng Tung are the spa, Naung Tong Lake, Sunn Taung Monastery, the central market and traditional lacquerware works and a weaving factory. There are many villages of various ethnic tribes around Keng Tung. The tribes known as Gon, Lwe, Li, Wa, La Hu, Thai Nay, Shan, Li Shaw, Li Su, Palaung and Akha are only discernable by their differing colourful costumes.
This afternoon, you will wander around the old town of Keng Tung. The town is a treasure trove of traditional architecture with old style houses and their intricately designed wooden balconies, characteristic of Shan architecture.
Overnight: Princess Hotel
Meal Plan: B,L,D
Keng Tung
After breakfast, you will be driven up to the town of Loimwe, located at 1600 metres above sea level. The drive up to Loimwe is spectacular and takes you through many ethnic villages and forests, and alongside many paddy terraces. On arrival in this strange town wander through its streets with old colonial houses complete with chimneys and take a visit to the old area commander’s house.
In the afternoon head back by car to Joe Phyu, an ethnic Wa village. The Wa tribe are former headhunters and expert opium producers. But today they no long perform either trade!
This will be followed by a very gentle and beautiful walk downhill along an old British pony track through numerous Akha ethnic villages. In these villages you will be able to enjoy their generous hospitality, take some wonderful photos and generally converse with a people little changed over the centuries. Wander through forests, along terraced rice paddies, through villages all the while enjoying wonderful views of this breathtaking scenery in the eastern Shan State.
Return back to the town of Keng Tung and enjoy a brief stop at a Shan village to enjoy the wonderful wood carved houses.
Overnight: Princess Hotel
Meal Plan: B,L,D
Keng Tung - Yangon
After breakfast you will visit the central market which bustles each morning from 6 to 11 am. The market offers products from China and Thailand and also has local traditional clothing, antique coins and other implements for sale which all make good souvenirs.
In the afternoon you are transferred to the airport to fly to Yangon via Heho and Mandalay. Upon arrival you are met and transferred to either the Strand Hotel, Governor’s Residence or Traders Hotel.
Overnight: TBC
Meal Plan: B,L
Yangon - Sittwe - Mrauk U
This morning, you are transferred to the airport to fly to Sittwe. Upon arrival, you are met and driven to Mrauk U.
On the way visit Mahamuni Pagoda in Kyauktaw.
Arrive Mrauk U and transfer to your hotel.
Overnight: Mrauk U Princess Hotel
Meal Plan: B,L,D
Mrauk U
After breakfast, visit Shittaung Temple which means the temple of 80,000 images and was built by King Min Ba Gree in 1533 A.D. Continue to Htutkan Thein, Andaw Thein and Thet Village to meet the Rohinga tribe (ethnic Bangladeshis). Then visit the temple of 90,000 images, Koe Thaung Temple, which was built by King Min Teikkha of the 22nd Mrauk U dynasty.
This afternoon visit the informative Mrauk U Museum and then climb the Haritaung Pagoda for a breathtaking view of Mrauk U at sunset. The rolling hills, medieval pagodas and simple village life offer the perfect panorama of rural life.
Overnight: Mrauk U Princess Hotel
Meal Plan: B,L,D
Mrauk U
After early breakfast, set off from the hotel. Stop at a local market to buy some medication for the Chin Village. After that board a boat for the trip to the tattooed village. Sit back and enjoy the tranquil scenery as you potter along the Lemro river en route to Chin hills. Pass by numerous villages that seemingly have not changed in centuries and witness traditional river life.
Stop en route for a picnic by the river. You soon enter the wonderful jungle clad Chin hills rising from the river bank. Arrive at the village of Sin Ge and see the few remaining Chin ladies with their tattooed faces. This is a dying custom in the Chin state as young girls today opt to not tattoo their faces. Hand over some medication to the village head. Then proceed for a short walk through the jungle to the villages of Kyee Chaung and Kone Chaung for some tea and photo opportunities before heading back to the boat and starting your return journey back to Nam Gya Village. En route you will have the opportunity to take some lovely photographs of sunset on the river.
Overnight: Mrauk U Princess Hotel
Meal Plan: B,L,D
Mrauk U - Sittwe - Depart Yangon
This morning, enjoy a boat ride back to Sittwe and upon arrival, you are transferred to the airport to board a morning flight to Yangon.
Arrive in Yangon late morning where you are met and transferred to the city for final sightseeing.
Today, visit the National Museum, the showpiece of which is the Lion’s Throne. The throne, made of wood and inlaid with gold and lacquer work, is a striking example of the Myanmar art of woodcarving. The throne was taken from Mandalay in 1886 by the English and later returned in 1964 as a goodwill gesture.
Then stop at the Reclining Buddha Pagoda, which is not actually a pagoda, but a pavilion housing a 230 foot statue. Also within the pagoda enclosure is a centre devoted to the study of sacred Buddhist manuscripts. About 600 monks live in the monastery and spend their days studying and meditating.
Lunch at Padonmar Restaurant. Afternoon transfer to the International Airport for your departure flight.
Meal Plan: B,L